中國智能手機市場擁擠不堪

China’s already crowded smartphone market just got more packed, with new devices from Letv — a Chinese internet company relatively unknown to many westerners — netting 1.2m pre-orders in a single day.

中國本已擁擠不堪的智能手機市場變得更加擁擠了。許多西方人相對陌生的中國互聯網公司樂視(Letv)新推的手機在一天就接到了120萬預訂單。

The company, which runs one of China’s better known video streaming websites, launched the Le1, Le1 Pro and LeMax smartphones. Letv is offering free internet and free video content to its smartphone users, as well as a relatively low price of $245 for the Le1.

樂視推出了樂1、樂1 Pro和樂Max 三款智能手機。樂視經營着中國較爲知名的視頻播放網站之一。樂視向其智能手機用戶提供免費上網服務和免費視頻內容，還有相對低廉的價格——樂1售價爲245美元。

Xiaomi, an internet company that branched out into selling phones, adopted a similar strategy four years ago. Its device was intended to be a “gateway to an ecosystem” rather than merely a device on which to make calls and surf online.

此前將業務範圍拓展到手機銷售的互聯網公司小米(Xiaomi)，在4年前採取了類似的策略。小米旨在把自己的設備打造成“一個生態系統的入口”，而不僅僅是一款用來打電話和上網的設備。

Letv’s advantage is its access to content, including foreign television series such as Netflix’s House of Cards.

樂視的優勢在於獲得其內容，包括Netflix的《紙牌屋》(House of Cards)等外國電視連續劇。

But although 1.2m pre-orders might be cause for champagne corks to pop elsewhere in the world, it is not that big a deal in China — new smartphone launches in the country can generate 4m daily pre-orders from the likes of the industry leaders such as Huawei and Xiaomi.

儘管換到世界其他任何地方，120萬預訂單值得打開香檳慶祝，但這在中國並不是什麼大事。華爲(Huawei)和小米等業內領軍企業推出新款智能手機時，每天都能獲得400萬預訂單。

Xin Haiguang, a technology industry expert in Beijing, said the level of pre-orders was “an encouraging number for Letv, a newcomer smartphone maker. But it does not come as a huge surprise, nor is it very likely that the number is exaggerated, because frankly it’s not that large.”

北京科技行業專家信海光表示，這個預訂單水平“會令新來的智能手機制造商樂視感到鼓舞。但這個數字不是特別出人意料，也不太可能被誇大了，因爲坦白講，這個數字不那麼大。”

Xiaomi wrote the playbook on marketing smartphones in China with its online strategy, cheap prices and networks of fans who popularise the phones through word-of-mouth. This method has been widely mimicked by competitors, prompting Xiaomi last month to cut prices on its latest phone model, the Mi4, due to competition.

小米是中國市場智能手機的營銷高手，其套路包括在線策略、低廉價格和粉絲網絡——粉絲們的口碑傳播使小米手機家喻戶曉。競爭對手們紛紛仿效這個方法，導致小米迫於競爭壓力，上月降低了其最新機型小米4的價格。

Letv declined to comment.

樂視拒絕置評。